Quick Links And Reader Tips

Reader Tips 23 Comments

I’m heading out on vacation tomorrow (be back the 12th) and I’ve got a busy day of errands, so unfortunately can’t do justice to the many, many links readers have sent. A few picked at random will start you off, though.
China ELobby has a Canadian angle on Tibetan mining interests.
10 Most Fascinating People of the blogosphere, at Right Wing News.
Everything you wanted to know about Liberal scandals, and then some. They’re looking for volunteers. Who wouldn’t? Keeping track of the Liberals is a full time job.
Adscam: some get a curfew, some get their job back, some get a Costa Rican ambassadorship.
John Rosenthal onAP-Ipsos polling and why Americans aren’t French, after all.
And lots of stuff at Newsbeat1. As usual!
Drop your own in the comments.

23 Replies to “Quick Links And Reader Tips”

  1. Harper promises to reduce hospital wait times
    CTV.ca News Staff
    Stephen Harper has followed up his pledge to slash the much-maligned GST with a promise to cut hospital waiting lists, saying no patient will have to wait an unacceptable time for treatment under a Conservative government.
    “If this is not available in their own area, they must be given the option of receiving treatment at another hospital or clinic even outside their home province,” the Conservative leader said in Winnipeg Friday.
    Harper said a Tory government will work with the provinces to reduce waiting times for medical treatment, but this won’t involve a private health care system working alongside the public system.
    “We must treat all patients equally, regardless of ability to pay. There will be no private parallel system,” he added, pointing out that under the Liberal government the average wait time for treatment had doubled to 18 weeks.
    “The prime minister talks about a quick fix for a generation. Canadians know there is no quick fix for health care. It requires real reform and real change.”
    Harper said he wants to guarantee that cancer patients start radiation treatments within 10 working days of seeing a cancer specialist. He said non-urgent hip and knee replacements should be done with 10 months.

  2. RE: Laurie Mustard’s (Colour me liberal red on gay issue)…
    …Editorial in todays Winnipeg Sun..
    Laurie…
    I have been asking liberals to explain to me, why they (and now you) are so afraid of a free vote on the same sex issue..
    Why are liberals and socialists so afraid of a simple democratic vote..?
    Maybe you can explain it to us..
    If your position is sound and principled, will it not stand up to honest debate.?
    Do you believe in democracy?. Will you accept the will of the people?.
    All Harper has said and promised, is he would allow a free vote on the definition of Marriage, he also said he would accept and abide by the results .
    So will I (I might add),…I believe in democracy…!
    What are you afraid of…?
    Canadians were lied to….we all witnessed the liberals standing up and declaring their devotion to the traditional definition of marriage, that being: Marriage is the union of one man and one woman.
    Then we witnessed the liberals changing that definition without once asking Canadians if that was what they wanted, they did it arbitrarily, Paul Martin demanded his cabinet vote his way or else…
    Do you call that democracy..?
    I call it dictatorial socialism…!
    Listen up, liberals, socialists….the word Marriage is a religious term(word) and there is historical reference to back that up…
    The state has no rights to the word marriage…!
    Gays and lesbians want to use a religious term(word) to describe their un-religious unions..It seems to me and many others, they are trying to get some sort of (back door) religious acceptance (pun is intended)..
    It’s obvious to all…they want and need religious acceptance…!!!!
    Your statement it’s (nobody’s business but those at the altar, with legal blessing all the way).
    Would that alter be in the local church..?
    Are religions now to be forced to perform such services..?
    Ask your lesbian friend, if this is not about gaining religious acceptance…then why insist on using religious terminology .?..
    When Civil Union would convey the (with legal blessing) message just as well…..!
    Ps: Once more…Why are you, liberals and socialists so afraid of a free democratic vote on this issue..?
    Please explain…………..!!
    William Wylie….Ajax, Ont.

  5. Deep breath, Warwick. It’s only 20%. Bad enough, I admit. But they’ve become almost indistinguishable anyway.

  6. Okay, I know i’m not supposed to do this, but I am technically inept for the most part. Somebody sent this to me. Great piece, kiss of death if MSM see it.
    > ———————————————————–
    >> GIFT FROM CANADA?
    >> By Patrick Basham
    >> ———————————————————–
    >> Why does President Bush hope Christmas comes a little late this year?
    >> Because on Jan. 23, Canada may elect the most pro-American leader in the
    >> Western world. Free-market economist Stephen Harper, leader of the
    >> opposition Conservative Party, is pro-free trade, pro-Iraq war,
    >> anti-Kyoto, and socially conservative. Move over Tony Blair: If elected,
    >> Mr. Harper will quickly become Mr. Bush’s new best friend internationally
    >> and the poster boy for his ideal foreign leader.
    >>
    >> Both north and south of the U.S.-Canada border, this vote matters.
    >> Canadians are facing an election that may be the closest in a generation.
    >> The first opinion poll of the campaign, a new CanWest News Service/Global
    >> News survey by Ipsos Reid, finds Prime Minister Paul Martin’s center-left
    >> Liberal Party tied with Harper’s Conservatives at 31 percent support each.
    >> Over the cold, wintry eight-week campaign, there is everything to play for
    >> on both sides of the partisan and ideological divide.
    >>
    >> If Martin’s Liberal Party is re-elected for the fourth consecutive
    >> time, Canadian taxpayers will continue footing the bill for an expensive
    >> welfare state epitomized by its archaic government-run health-care system.
    >> Social policy experimentation on issues such as drugs and homosexual
    >> rights will continue in an incremental but decidedly progressive
    >> direction.
    >>
    >> What will happen if Mr. Harper’s Conservatives win? Most important,
    >> Canada will have its first leader in living memory who actually believes
    >> Big Government is a real problem. A Prime Minister Harper may not be able
    >> to pass all the legislation he wants, but he would push to cut taxes and
    >> spending and the regulatory burden on Canada’s business sector.
    >>
    >> The Liberals count on their overblown reputation for sound economic
    >> stewardship over the last decade to carry them across finish line in first
    >> place. In addition, a close race will undoubtedly feature much negative
    >> advertising. This pretty much guarantees the Liberals will use the
    >> nationalism card against the Conservatives. In practice, this means crude
    >> anti-American rhetoric to appeal to undecided electors of the vote-rich
    >> province of Ontario — the same voters who decided the last election, 17
    >> months ago, following a Liberal campaign that successfully tarred Mr.
    >> Harper as “too pro-American.”
    >>
    >> The Conservatives, meanwhile, could benefit from a growing public sense
    >> that, 12 years after the reins last changed hands, it may be time for a
    >> change. This sentiment has been reinforced by the recent judicial
    >> investigation into a corruption scandal surrounding the Liberal Party’s
    >> past funding of pro-Liberal advertising agencies in Quebec.
    >>
    >> Though the judicial report did not implicate Mr. Martin, it documented
    >> kickbacks among federal Liberal politicians, senior federal bureaucrats
    >> and advertising agency heads, thereby tarnishing the legacy of former
    >> Prime Minister Jean Chretien, Mr. Martin’s predecessor. The findings also
    >> have irreparably harmed the Liberals’ short-term prospects in Quebec, a
    >> shake-up that has proven a boon to the separatist movement in the populous
    >> and predominantly French-speaking province.
    >>
    >> Though still a young man in political terms, Stephen Harper may not
    >> receive a better opportunity to gain power and to steer Canada in a more
    >> conservative direction. If he and his fellow Conservatives can seize this
    >> opportunity to recast the policy debate, it will reveal a great deal about
    >> the evolving nature of Canadian political culture.
    >>
    >> A Harper victory may prove to be the exception to the international
    >> rule — a rare foreign event that manages to put a smile on President
    >> George W. Bush’s face.
    >>
    >>
    >>
    >> Patrick Basham is senior fellow in the Center for Representative
    >> Government at the Cato Institute.

  8. Mississauga Matt: Harper also called medicare “sacrosanct”–plus lib�ral que les lib�raux.
    Well that’s it then. No real change, no guts and we all get to suffer longer and maybe die a little bit faster.
    And how will he deal with private care in Quebec, B.C., etc, and what about that pesky little Supreme Court decision? Maybe the notwithstanding clause?
    Mark
    Ottawa

  9. Mrs Thatcher: Exactly–all the Liberals have to do is reprint this like crazy under the head: “Canadians’ Worst Fears about Harper Confirmed”.
    Mark
    Ottawa

  11. From the campaign road blog of Scott Feschuk, chief speechwriter for Paul Martin:
    10:32 AM – Dear Blog Boy: I was just wondering how many times you get the Prime Minister to say “fundamentally” in a speech? It sure seems a bit excessive! – J.H.
    Thank you for your very, very important question. Make no mistake: fundamentally, the Prime Minister is a man who, essentially, speaks in a very, very distinctive way. Let me be clear: we have pointed this out to him. And fundamentally, what he has said in reply is, essentially, that we should be very, very quiet and go away.

  13. Mark:
    “Maybe the notwithstanding clause?”
    Naw, that’s like the chesterfield in Grandma’s living room – covered in plastic and there to look at, not to actually use.

  14. Mark, the wait times would be shortened because the hospitals would be able to contract out to a private clinic, where available, any overflow. Hips and knees are the best examples because wait lists in some areas are TWO YEARS. So, by having a private orthopaedic clinic take some of those patients, with the hospital paying for it, and no cost to the patient, bodies are removed from the wait list. And a knee replacement done in hospital is $8-10K, compared to $3-5K in a private clinic. Why? Less overhead, fewer administrators. One of the reasons wait lists are so long is because surgeries are routinely cancelled when staff don’t turn up, or due to budgetary problems, 3 or 4 ORs are closed completely. Politicians are lying about wait lists. They can easily be eliminated, but they require a much more efficient system with fewer administrators and more front-line staff.

  16. Iron Lady: As long as the system is a government-funded and controlled single-payer system there can be no real change, although private delivery of services that are paid for publicly may cause some marginal improvements.
    Mark
    Ottawa

  17. The unsung heroes are those who cross the border and pay for their care, removing themselves from our wait lists while still paying onerous tax loads.

  18. I just listened to Steven Fletcher the CPC Health Critic on the Dave Rutherford Show. It was a really painful experience. He sounds like a teenage boy asking his first girl out while her father cleans his gun collection nearby. CPC find a new spokesman or give up on wining.

  19. Do you chew/smoke/eat/spit cannabis? Do you crack cocaine? Drink Chateau de Sur de Villepin-Chirac vin rouge? Well, you are WHO’s welcome list. Who’s WHO? >>>
    World Health Organization stops hiring smokers as part of commitment to controlling tobacco use
    AP ^ | 12/2/5
    Posted on 12/02/2005 10:41:34 AM PST by Crackingham
    The World Health Organization has stopped hiring smokers as part of its commitment to controlling tobacco use, a spokesman said Friday.
    “WHO has taken a very public lead in the fight against tobacco use,” spokesman Iain Simpson said. “As a matter of principle, WHO does not want to recruit smokers.”
    As of Dec. 1, all vacancy notices include a line stating that the U.N. health agency does not promote tobacco use or recruit smokers, Simpson said. Applicants are asked if they smoke or use other tobacco products, and if they answer “yes,” the application process is terminated. via freerepublic.com

  20. CAW+Buzz + NDP + AdScam Martin Librano$ = National Socialism. Down with National Socialism.*******
    Hargrove throws support behind Martin
    TORONTO (CP) – Prime Minister Paul Martin has received a ringing endorsement from the head of the Canadian Auto Workers.
    via cnews

  21. The truly amazing Internet!!!! The photos!!!!>>>
    Thursday, December 1, 2005
    Belgium: newspaper IDs the first western female ‘suicide bomber’
    Just compare these two cover pages from Belgium’s La Derniere Heure newspaper (tabloid from Namur, south-west of Brussels). On the right, the usual cover with metro news and sports events. On the left, today’s cover with the whole page dedicated to the first western woman likely identified as a “suicide bomber” in Iraq.
    A real scoop for the newspaper and a real wave of emotion in Belgium. What is interesting here is that the newspaper totally changed the design of its cover for this exceptional occasion. >>>> more
    http://www.editorsweblog.org/print_newspapers/2005/12/belgium_newspaper_ids_the_first_western.php

  22. “We’re medical refugees. Maybe we should see the immigration (department) and see if we can’t emigrate there for health care. It doesn’t give you a real warm, fuzzy feeling for Canada.”
    Compare/contrast this young Canadian’s words with AdScam Martin’s throat-singing>>>> “I Love Canada!!”. AdScam Martin, Liberal Prime Minister, has his own private doctor. Martin, why have you consigned this Canadian to pain/suffering/financial hardship? Martin you suck; your fellow Liberal, McGuinty, premier of Ontario sucks, also. S-U-C-K>> more
    Health care ‘sucks’
    By NICK GARDINER
    Staff Writer
    Jenny Kelsey has two words for Ontario’s health-care system.
    “It sucks,” said the 27-year-old whose Vermont-based treatments for ovarian cancer were turned down for funding on final appeal in a Nov. 16 decision by the Health Services Appeal and Review Board.
    Kelsey, who is due for a third chemotherapy session in the last four weeks at Ottawa next Wednesday, feels she’s survived the past two years because of the generosity of the public and Fletcher Allen Health Care Centre in Burlington, Vermont.
    At the family home west of Brockville, Kelsey said she’s been abandoned by the health-care system and so have “other people I’ve met along this journey.”
    She said the province should have paid the $150,000 bill for treatment at the Fletcher centre but she wasn’t counting on a change of heart on her appeal of the Jan. 24 decision.
    “I was hoping, but not too much.”
    http://newsfeed.recorder.ca/cgi-bin/LiveIQue.acgi$rec=16015

  23. “I love Canada” PMPM = wrong answer.
    Do you stand up for Canada Paul Martin? Or do you stand up for the Liberal Party of Canada?
    Never mind I know the answer.

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